"Magic is what makes fantasy fantastic," someone says, "you can't apply rules to them or else it loses wonder!" I respond, "Sure, but if you want to write them you will certainly want to know how they work." Writing is all about execution, and I find applying some basic laws of physics to magic systems make them more understandable and realistic. Here, I'm going to outline my basic method for developing a magic system.
Column by Chaos2651
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HayleyRH everyone is giving great advise, but also remember--and it is something I have to tell myself constantly--this is only your first draft. It won't and doesn't have to be great and good, these are just your ideas first coming out of your head into the light of day. Presiver and push past your initial... revulsion, and you will find that it gets better on is own. Your own story will draw you in. You have an idea for a story where most people would never even think to actually write it down, so you already have something special. Be brave, tough it out, and you will see something extraordinary.
I'll gladly join the ranks of the slow writers. In my case it's made worse through my brilliant idea of writing the first draft by hand. That feels far too much like work, and once I'm done with the draft I probably won't try that again. Ever. Unless the result should turn out to be a work of literary genius, of course.
Congradulations on starting a wonderful read. Keep at it. The first three books will feel very different from book four. The story will eventually become absolutely vast. The events of the Wheel of Time are roughly comparable in impact to WWII was for us. Imagine if someone setout to tell the story of WWII from the viewpoint of virtually all the key players on all sides. That'll give you a pretty good idea of the scope of the story. It's an amazingly ambitious undertaking.
The Wheel of Time contains a concept of an Age Lace. The basic idea is that every person's life is a thread. Those threads are woven into a pattern as people interact with each other. In most cases, these threads are allowed to wander about however they like within the pattern. Every so often the wheel which weaves the pattern churns out a central thread. A Ta'veren. This person becomes a focal point in the pattern. The Ta'veren influences those around him and bends their threads around him. This bending ripples outward through the pattern and more and more threads are woven together around the Ta'veren. The more powerfully one is Ta'veren, the more influence that person will have over the pattern. This weaving of threads around a Ta'veren is called an Age Lace. I suspect this is a very familiar concept to most writers.
When I say I have friends I trust to give me decent feedback, those are usually friends who are also writers. I trust them to do that because we all want the same thing.
Writer friends are the best.
